Picking Oranges

Last Friday Joe and I had a wonderful day in Port Pirie. We had heaps (lots) of things to do that day but we also managed to have a great time.

One of the things we had to do was figure out my license... which as you saw from the last video, ended up being absolutely nothing! Attention Ontarians: If you have a valid temporary visa for Australia you can drive here NO PROBLEMS. In my video however I said that I would likely not drive any time soon... I was wrong. With such a busy house, I was the only one home to pick up Joe's little sister from school today... so I had to learn to drive on the other (not wrong) side of the road sooner than I thought. Joe and I dropped her at school this morning and then went for a little lesson... Just to Claire-ify, it wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. I did quite well I think... no mishaps yet anyway.

So just less than an hour ago I ventured out on the left side of the road by myself and successfully picked up my future sister-in-law without harming anyone or breaking the law. (Praise God!)

We also had a chance while we were in Pirie on Friday to hang out with Miss Emma again... And I had the chance to pick oranges for the first time. This may not be a big deal to most Aussies, but to a girl from Ontario where I'm pretty sure it's impossible to grow oranges... it was a pretty big deal! Check out the video below... oh, and I ate an orange the next day and it was wonderful!



More adventures to come from our trip to Pirie... including a Canadian VS Australian grocery shopping experience! AND a story about my first footy day in Port Broughton

Just to Claire-ify.

The License

Earthquake?

This morning I woke up to discover (thanks to Facebook) that there was an earthquake at home yesterday.

This is the first time that something "big" has happened that I haven't been around for. My first reaction was disbelief, then "holy crap is everyone ok?" to asking how big it was. Then I automatically signed on to skype to see if my family just happened to be online. Sadly they weren't.

I checked out "CHEX" (our local news station) to see if they had anything about it... And they did. It actually made me laugh more than anything!

Side note:
In high school, my sister and I would stay up just to watch the 11pm news because it was so funny!

From what I watched it seems that the earthquake wasn't that big of a deal. It was much heavier in Ottawa and western Quebec than it was at home, but still... it's difficult being on the other side of the world when things like this happen.

This is something I am not looking forward to while I'm in Australia... I can't control anything that happens there, and if things happen that I can't control I can't be there right away!

Just to Claire-ify... NOTHING SCARY/IMPORTANT SHOULD HAPPEN WHILE I'M HERE! Ok?

Dutch Blitz

It's Wednesday. Joe is trying to focus on getting some school work done but I managed to distract him for a few minutes to play a game of Dutch Blitz. It's beautiful today, so we took our tea outside and played... I won the hand you'll see in the video below, but sadly Joe won the game... as usual.

If you've never played Dutch Blitz you should! It's a fast-paced card game with some elements of Solitaire, speed and skip-bo... we're a little addicted I think!

Just to Claire-ify.

Camels in Australia!!!!!

It's true! I'm currently reading this book called, "In a Sunburned Country" by Bill Bryson. It's a great book! I'm learning so much about Australia... I'm teaching Joe a little too!

Anyways, so yesterday I was having a relaxed Sunday afternoon reading when I jumped up and burst into the kitchen to inform my future mother-in-law that there are indeed camels in Australia! She smiled and said, "Yes, I know!" Seriously people... Did anyone else know about these camels?!?!?!

So, in the last day I've learned quite a bit about this bizarre fact... here's a little:

Thousands of camels were imported into Australia between 1840 and 1907 to open up the dry areas of central and western Australia. They were used for riding, and as draught and pack animals for exploration and construction of rail and telegraph lines. They were also used to supply goods to remote mines and settlements.

In the 1920s, there were an estimated 20,000 domesticated camels, but by 1930, with the arrival of rail and motor transport, they were no longer needed and many were released into the bush. They bred prolifically, spreading across arid and semi-arid areas of the Northern Territory, Western Australia and South Australia, and into parts of Queensland.

Feral camel numbers in Australia were estimated in 2004 at more than 500,000 with approximately half of them in Western Australia. Current estimates place the population at closer to one million, and a doubling time of about nine years is likely. (www.environment.gov.au)

This country constantly baffles me... Just to Claire-ify.

This is Winter...

The Land of Oz...

It wasn't a wizard or a twister that brought me to the land of Oz... it was Joe. In just over 2 years we will have met, fallen in love, dated and will be married! So I've come here to live with my love and have a wonderful adventure in the land of Oz...

After a long 26 hours of travel on my own I was greeted at the airport by some of Joe's family... I guess they'll be my family pretty soon! It was so nice to see familiar faces after being among strangers for so long.

After a couple of days of rest I was ready to begin my adventure...
First stop... PORT PIRIE!


During my excursion to Port Pirie yesterday, Emma and I visited Meg's books shop where we found an amazing book... "Diary of a Wombat" is a ridiculously simple book that made me laugh out loud! It also reminded me of Hannah, Meaghan and Jocelyn and my very first trip to Australia in July 2008. I never thought that less than two years later I would be moving here!

We had a great day in Pirie... Coffee, shopping, Mass and our own Praise and Worship Session! Oh, and I met the bishop! I recognized him right away! And then I realized why... Upon meeting I informed him that his face has been on my fridge for the last six months! (... Joe and his family had a picture taken with him at his younger brother's Confirmation...) I think I made a good impression! He was very nice.

So... I think I like this place. It's strange, I was just here in January but now I'm looking at everything in such a different light... This is going to be my home for a little while now! And Joe? Well, Joe will be my home forever! Well, the next hundred years or so anyway.

Just to Claire-ify!